Police seek to bridge divide

Violent incidents, both local and national, give urgency to improving relations with civilians

By Brianna Snyder

Published
6:36 pm EST, Saturday, December 27, 2014

The national furor over recent killings of unarmed men by police officers has brought new urgency to efforts by some Capital Region law enforcement agencies to improve their relationships with the public.

A debate about police conduct in the region has been taking place, prompted in part by incidents in which police actions sparked controversy and complaints, including a Saratoga County sheriff's deputy who was caught on video slapping a young man in November; the death of a Ballston Spa man, Daniel Satre, after police used stun guns on him in September; a brawl between police and patrons at Kokopellis Night Club in Troy earlier this year; and the death of 19-year-old Nahcream Moore, who was killed by Albany police in 2011.

"I think what happened in Ferguson could happen anywhere," she said, referring to the Missouri shooting death of an unarmed black man by a white police officer and a grand jury's decision to forgo an indictment. "The situation is a recipe for disaster everywhere because you have so much racial tension in this country and sometimes it reaches a boiling point."

Police here say they have been trying to improve their relationships with their communities. Some departments, such as Saratoga Springs', are getting body cameras, which are intended to provide a video record for police officers and anyone accusing them of abuse. Schenectady put a citizen review board in place several years ago, partly to restore public confidence following police corruption scandals in that city. The Troy Police Department holds regular community forums to discuss citizen concerns and is training officers in how to improve their interactions with civilians.

While residents of some local communities say these measures are working, allegations persist of discrimination and mistreatment, including unnecessary searches and patdowns, harassment, frequent traffic stops and rudeness or discourtesy.

Attendees at the Arbor Hill meeting — mostly people of color — voiced frustration with the police.

"In some cases there were men who talked about being beat up by officers," Applyrs said. She said the interaction between white officers and black men is a "dysfunctional relationship."

Masai Andrews, an Albany resident who attended the Arbor Hill meeting, said he was displeased with the response from Albany Police Chief Steven Krokoff and the officers who were present that night. He wrote an open letter about his frustration to Krokoff. It has been viewed more than 1,000 times through an online petition.

"Yesterday evening you entered into a discussion with predominantly Black families, business owners, and residents who were physically shaken by a string of tragic events followed by an equally long string of injustices. With news cameras rolling, you took the opportunity to tell community members what THEY could do better to prevent themselves from being abused by the police — parent better, report crime better, cooperate better, etc.," reads part of the letter. "You neglected to mention that institutions of law enforcement in the United States quickly indoctrinate ... well-meaning recruits into a culture of systemic racism. This systemic racism continues to fuel incidents of police brutality and racial profiling."

"When I hear things like that, it helps drive me in the direction that we are going in and continues to help us look toward constant improvement," Krokoff said in an interview. "We can never get comfortable and think that we're there. And so I do need to hear things like what are in that letter to keep us driving in the right direction."

Krokoff said that since he was appointed in 2010, he and Deputy Chief Brendan Cox have taken steps to improve department-community relations, such as having the same officers assigned to beats so they get to know their neighborhoods. The department has opened its doors to the community through regular meetings and roundtables and by asking community leaders what the police need to do to better connect with local residents. Police officials recently began the Youth-Police Initiative, in which teens spend time with police-trained facilitators who help kids and police see things from each others' perspectives. The department also offers mediation sessions between citizens and officers, moderated by a professional mediator.

"This is our job," Krokoff said. "When people are your job it's easy to dehumanize them and start thinking of them as units of work instead of living, breathing, emotional creatures with needs, and [these programs] help yank you out of objectification of people. ... It's extremely helpful."

While acknowledging that there have been improvements, Andrews said he still sees people of color being stopped unnecessarily, questioned for no reason and harassed. And according to 2010 data from a 2012 study by Albany's Center for Law and Justice, the most recent study available, people of color in the Capital Region are stopped, arrested and convicted at far higher rates than their white peers. In Albany, minorities make up less than half the population but accounted for nearly three-quarters of the arrests. The numbers were similar in Schenectady, where minorities make up two-fifths of the population but accounted for more than three-fifths of arrests, and in Troy, where more than half of arrests were of minorities, who make up less than a third of the city's population.

"I've been patted down and had searches happen that shouldn't have happened," Andrews said. "A lot of that is because I just fit a description. That doesn't happen to my white friends."

"I think we enjoy very good relations with our communities," said Troy Police Chief John Tedesco. He said that since the melee at Kokopellis made national news earlier this year, his department has made changes in the way it handles disciplinary cases against police.

"We're expediting [those cases] in a much more speedy fashion," Tedesco said. The department has made personnel and policy changes, retrained officers to be more courteous in their interactions with citizens and has begun to hold community forums and discussions about how citizens feel about their treatment by the police, he said.

Troy City Councilman Bob Doherty said these meetings seem to be having positive effects. "People said they feel respected and feel like they had a forum to vent their concerns. ... I believe the state of affairs between the police department and the community is at a much-improved condition," he said.

Jessica Ashley, a Troy resident who ran for a Troy City Council seat two years ago, said she's noticed positive changes, but that problems persist.

"But just because the police have toned down a little bit to avoid any publicity has not resolved the problem in any way. The problem is entrenched. It requires leadership or the law in and of itself as something that applies to all of the citizens, all of the people. Not just some people."

Andrews said he thinks the ubiquity of cellphone cameras might be contributing to some positive change: "I think just blatant assaults are down because of technology," he said. "But I also think racism has been driven further under the surface."

Tedesco said he doesn't agree that racism or abuse of power are problems in his department. And Cox said the history that has led many people of color to distrust police is a difficult concept for some young officers to grasp. "We have learned a lot from personal conversations," Cox said. "Especially with people who have lived through it."

Applyrs said she appreciates the police effort to connect with the community.

"There are residents who speak very highly of Chief Krokoff and the direction he's moving the department," she said. "It's a step down the right path. But it's one of several strategies that needs to be implemented."